Rob Alley plays the bagpipes as a send-off for the ferry Taku as it departs Ketchikan’s Ward Cove on March 13, 2018. Alley first arrived in Alaska aboard the Taku in 1992. Now, the ship is headed to the scrapyard. (Photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)

The former state ferry Taku sailed past Singapore on Friday on the way to being scrapped. It will go for close to 10 times its purchase price.

Jabal Al Lawz Trading bought the 55-year-old ship earlier this year.

The Taku left Ketchikan’s Ward Cove, where it had been stored, March 13. The company sailed it across the Pacific Ocean in hopes of finding a buyer to keep it in service. But negotiations with interests in Singapore and Fiji didn’t work out.

Co-owner Ben Evans of New Zealand said it will end its sailing days in India later this month.

“She’s going to go to the scrapyard and sold for demolition. So that’s the end of the Taku,” he said, calling it a tragedy.

A Petersburg fishing boat passes the ferry Taku near the entrance of Wrangell Narrows in August, 2013. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

The state sold the ship in January for $170,000.

Evans said his company will probably get about $1.5 million for the ship. But sailing it 12,000 miles across the Pacific was expensive.

“It costs us $55,000 to insure it for the voyage. My crew payroll’s running about $2,000 a day. The fuel bill was probably just under $400,000. There’s some big figures there, you know,” he said.

State officials put the Taku up for sale a little more than a year ago. The original minimum bid was $1.5 million. But it took several tries to sell it, each with a lower price.

The Taku has not been a working ferry for several years. It was tied up in 2015 because of its age, as well as budget cuts.

Robert Venables heads up the state’s Maine Transportation Advisory Board. He also works for the Southeast Conference, which pushed the state to start the ferry system more about 60 years ago.

He said the ship’s condition left few choices.

“It’s not surprising, but it does leave you with a little bit of sadness that she’s not going to be in service,” he said.

Evans said most of the Taku will be recycled. Some parts, such as generators, will be sold whole.

The cut-up hull will be reprocessed into rebar. Among other things, it’s used to strengthen concrete in building construction.

Co-owner Evans said an investor in Fiji wanted to use the Taku as a ferry. He said interests in Singapore were interested in retrofitting it into what’s called a superyacht.

But all backed out.

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The state ferry Taku sails out of Ketchikan. It will be sold to Jabal Al Lawz Trading Jan. 19. It’s 352 feet long and  designed to carry 350 passengers and about 50 vehicles. (Photo courtesy Alaska Marine Highway System)

The state ferry Taku will keep its name – and possibly its job – after it leaves Alaska. But it could also be cut up for scrap.

Jabal Al Lawz Trading is the company buying 55-year-old ferry.

It’s based in Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, on the Persian Gulf, but its owners are in India and New Zealand.

“My partner and I buy scrap ships all around the world and mobilize them to India, where there’s quite a strong market for older vessels and they chop them up and recycle the steel,” said Capt. Barrymore “Ben” Evans.

And that’s where the Taku may end up.

But Evans doesn’t want to send it there, because it’s not at the end of its life. So he and his partner are looking elsewhere.

“There’s some people in the Philippines looking at a coastal ferry service … and similarly in Indonesia, the same scenario. And we also have inquiries from Papua New Guinea. They have a coastal shipping service because they don’t have very much road infrastructure there,” he said.

Evans’ partner, Rishi Aggarwal of Mumbai, India, is more optimistic. In an email exchange, he said he expects the ship to remain a ferry. If it does, he said it will keep the name Taku.

Mumbai is a center for businesses that dismantle and recycle large ships. The industry is known for low wages and hazardous working conditions.

The Taku has been docked since June of 2015, when it was taken out of service because of its age, as well as budget cuts.

It would need substantial improvements and updated certifications to rejoin the fleet.

Evans said the nations interested in the ship don’t have the same requirements.

“These are the sort of countries that can use an older ferry. Because their regulations are safe, but they are, how can I say it? More flexible than the United State or Europe would be,” he said.

The ferry Taku loads up at the Prince Rupert, B.C., ferry terminal July 24, 2014. The ship is set to be sold Jan. 19. (Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

Evans will fly to Ketchikan Jan. 18 for a final inspection. The next day, he and Alaska Marine Highway System General Manager John Falvey will sign the final paperwork.

Falvey said that’s the end of state ownership, which began in 1963.

“We, in essence, are going to switch over the docking fees on the day that we make the sale,” Falvey said.

The partnership has already made a $25,000 deposit. The remainder of the $171,000 price will be paid before the documents are signed.

Evans said he’ll bring in a crew the day after the sale. They’ll spend about 20 days preparing the Taku for the voyage. It will first sail to Seattle, then across the Pacific to the Philippines and on to its final destination. He expects the trip to take about a month.

Evans gives the ship about a 50 percent chance of continuing to sail.

“I just sincerely hope we do find a buyer because she’s an absolutely beautiful vessel. And when we buy ships, they are reaching the end of their life cycle. So, it’s quite nice when you come across one that’s in such lovely condition, but also very, very sad to put it up on the beach. So I do hope that doesn’t happen,” Evans said.

State officials put the Taku up for sale last March. The original minimum bid was $1.5 million. But it took several tries, each with a lower price.

At one point, a Portland-based group planned to turn it into a floating hotel. But neighbors objected and the offer was withdrawn

Evans’ company’s winning bid was a little more than a tenth of the original minimum price.

The post Ferry Taku sale set for Jan. 19, but its future is uncertain appeared first on KRBD.

The ferry Taku waits to load passengers Jan. 22, 2012, in Sitka, while it was still sailing. It’s been sold to a company based in Dubai after a Portland, Oregon, bidder withdrew its offer. (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/CoastAlaska News)

The state ferry Taku is not hip enough for Portland, Oregon.

Earlier this fall, a company based there placed the winning bid of $300,000 for the 54-year-old vessel. KeyMar LLC’s plans were to turn it into a floating hotel.

The company withdrew its bid earlier this month, said John Falvey, Alaska Marine Highway general manager.

“They cited regulatory issues, potentially, other competing projects within their group, within their company … and things like that,” he said.

KeyMar representative Jonathan Cohen said his group could not gain enough support from neighboring property owners to win required permits.

“The team did not want to introduce a property that wouldn’t be fully embraced by the surrounding community,” Cohen wrote in an email. He said the group is instead turning an old Columbia River school into a hotel.

After the Portland company pulled out, the state informed two other bidders from the last round that the 350-foot ferry was again for sale.

Falvey said the top bidder offered $171,000, two-thirds more than the minimum needed.

“Tuesday at 3 o’clock, we opened the bids. And the winner was the Jabal Al Lawz Trading Co., from the (United Arab) Emirates, who I believe is purchasing the ship to take it for scrap,” he said.

So it might end up in a marine junkyard. But he’s not sure.

Attempts to contact the company were not successful. But the Juneau Empire reports the company plans to use it as a ferry in the Philippines.

Falvey said the company already paid a $25,000 deposit. The balance will need to be in hand before he can sign sale documents. The timing has not been determined.

“We prefer to do it before the end of the year. But that may not happen with the holidays and things like that. If they’re going to get a crew here, they’ve got to bring a foreign crew to the United States and they need to get visas and things like that,” he said.

He said the state will continue to pay to store the Taku at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove for 30 days after the sale is completed.

After that, storage or transport is up to the buyer.

Falvey said the company indicated it could be reflagged to another country, which would allow transit through U.S. waters.

Right now, the Taku lacks equipment and certifications needed to sail under the U.S. flag.

The Taku was tied up in 2015 as the ferry system looked for ways to balance its budget. The ship can carry about 350 passengers and 50 vehicles. It has 40 staterooms, a cafeteria, observation lounges and a covered solarium.

State officials have been trying to sell the Taku since last spring. It was first priced at $1.5 million.

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The Alaska Marine Highway ferry Taku sails into Wrangell Narrows off Petersburg in 2014. It was tied up the following year and is for sale.  (Photo by Ed Schoenfeld/Coastalaska News)

Update, July 11, 2017, 9:30 p.m.: Alaska Marine Highway officials are extending the final bid deadline for the ferry Taku another three weeks.

Spokeswoman Meadow Bailey says it’s because an interested buyer wants to tour the 54-year-old ship.

Bids were originally due by July 7. Officials pushed that back a week and a half on Monday. Now, bids aren’t due until Aug. 8.

***

Someone is interested in buying the retired ferry Taku. As a result, the Alaska Marine Highway System is giving interested parties an extra week and a half to submit bids.

The 54-year-old ship has been out of service for two years. It’s been put out to bid twice before, first at $1.5 million, then at $700,000. But no offers were made.

The latest attempt, advertised June 19, listed no minimum price. Bids were scheduled to be opened July 7. That deadline was then extended until July 18.

Ferry spokeswoman Meadow Bailey said the new deadline came at the request of an interested party.

“Obviously, there is not a huge rush on this. We have been working with the Taku for several months now. So we were happy to fulfill that request,” she said.

Bailey said the marine highway is not identifying the interested party or parties.

The Taku was tied up in 2015 to save money. It worked, but needed minor repairs and certifications required for all passenger ships.

It’s been moored at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove since then.

The Taku sailed mostly Southeast routes. It’s about 350 feet long. It can carry up to 50 vehicles and 350 passengers. It has 40 staterooms, a cafeteria, observation lounges and a covered solarium.

If it can’t be sold, it could be scrapped.

The post Update: Ferry Taku bid opening delayed, because someone’s actually interested appeared first on KRBD.

The Alaska Marine Highway System ferry Taku is in storage at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove. The former Ketchikan Pulp Co. mill site, including ferry headquarters, is in the background. (Photo by Leila Kheiry/KRBD)

The price is dropping for the state ferry Taku.

Alaska Marine Highway System General Manager John Falvey said no one submitted a bid during the most recent sale attempt, which ended May 31.

The minimum bid was $700,000. An earlier attempt priced the ship at $1.5 million.

“We’ve had quite a bit of interest. We’ve probably had upwards of 25 calls or emails with interest. But no bids,” he said.

Falvey said the Taku will be put out to bid one more time at a lower, yet-to-be-determined price. That should happen this week.

He said if no one buys the ferry, it could be sold for scrap.

The ferry system took the 54-year-old ship out of service about two years ago. It’s been moored at Ketchikan’s Ward Cove.

Falvey said a buyer would have to accept the ferry as-is, where-is. He said it’s in pretty good shape. But it would need some upgrades and permits before it could carry passengers again.

“The boat was certified by our Coast Guard. … It was operational. It was safe. So I would have to assume that it shouldn’t need anything more than minor maintenance to get it running again because it sat so long,” he said.

The Taku has been advertised on the state’s website and through the Passenger Vessel Association, a trade organization.

The Taku is about 350 feet long. It can carry up to 50 vehicles and 350 passengers. It has 40 staterooms, a cafeteria, observation lounges and a covered solarium. It sailed mostly Southeast routes.

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